Sustainable school in Ubud, Bali

At yesterday’s tour of Sydney’s Sustainable House I met two people from Indonesia and they sent me this email to provide more information about a sustainable school in Ubud: Hello Michael, How are you? I’m Andra, I visited your house yesterday with my girlfriend, Asela, Firstly, thank you for the tour, it was very entertaining and informative. This is the Green School near Ubud, Bali, that I talked about yesterday. www.greenschool.org… Last... Read More

When poetry is about sustainability

There is a poem by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney based on the legend of St Kevin and the Blackbird:  the blackbird laid its eggs in the saint’s outstretched hand as he prayed.   And then there was St Kevin and the blackbird,          The saint is kneeling, arms stretched out, inside          His cell, but the cell is narrow, so            One turned-up palm is out the window, stiff          As a crossbeam, when... Read More

Boston Uni students tour Sydney’s Sustainable House and road gardens

Last week 21 students from Boston Uni toured Sydney’s Sustainable House and the road gardens. The teacher, Gordon Hinds, let me have this background note about the Boston Uni course being taught in Sydney: Boston University has a campus in Sydney near Central Station in Regent Street. The campus has about 120 students accommodated in a dormitory style high-rise building with lecture theatres below the accommodation tower. Boston University... Read More

Cool your roof to cool your house or building

A hot roof heats up the inside of the house or building. Think of your roof as a stove top or frypan with you in the pan or pot above the gas flame or heat source.  For the building the heat source is the sun. To cool your house you can cool your roof. A question just into my email reminded me of the roof as frypan and this is the houseowner’s problem: ‘Hello Michael I am hoping that you can advise me of the beats way to address the removal... Read More

Beach plastic is breathed in by fish who then die

Imagine the plastic we see beside the roads, rail lines, footpaths . . . then imagine it floating on and below the sea to be breathed in by fish, whales, jelly fish, crabs, whales, little critters there . . . in pieces as small as the tip of a pen or pin, getting in the lungs and then killing oceans of fish.   These folk do – Responsible Runners – and every day they prevent some of it getting into the ocean – Responsible Runners.   This... Read More